Charger News

Two Putnam Educators among state’s finest

Charger Staff

The Putnam County school system has gained some pretty impressive bragging rights. Recently two Putnam educators, Dr. Teri Anderson, Assistant Director of Schools, and Ms. Sharon K. Anderson, a CHS teacher were named among the finalists for top honors at the state level.

Eighteen educators were recognized as Tennessee’s top educators on Thursday night, October 17, at the Mrs. Grissom’s Salads 2003 Excellence in Education awards banquet in Nashville.
The host for the evening was Nashville television personality Sharon Puckett.

Dr. Anderson said, “I was surprised to learn I was among the finalists. I didn’t know until I arrived at the conference.”

Ms. Anderson said, “I am thrilled to represent Putnam County in this way. So many of my colleagues have called or e-mailed me with their good wishes.”

“The support has been tremendous. Mr. Shanks took time out of fall break to call and wish me luck before I left for Nashville”

The award ceremonies climaxed a yearlong search throughout the state for Tennessee’s best supervisors, principals, and teachers.

“The purpose of this program was to recognize and reward the very best among Tennessee’s educators,” said Mrs. Grace Grissom, founder of Mrs. Grissom’s Salads and sponsor of the program.

“I’m very proud of all of Tennessee’s educators and the positive impact they have on the lives of children.”

Nominees underwent a rigorous evaluation process by a selection committee to make it to the finals.
“We let those closest to the educators tell us who is doing the best job,” commented Faye Taylor, Commissioner of Education for the State of Tennessee.

“The Department of Education appreciates Mrs. Grissom’s Salads for underwriting this very worthwhile program,” continued Taylor.

“It is this type of support from the business community that makes Tennessee such a wonderful place to live and raise our families.”

Other corporate sponsors of the program include Tennessee Radio Network, Educator’s Credit Union, Lamar Advertising, McDonald’s Corporation and the College Fund Division of U. I. C. I.
The awards banquet was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Nashville Renaissance Hotel in conjunction with the Tennessee Educational Leadership Conference.

This event combined several conferences that were previously separate events such as the Assessment Conference, the Supervisor’s Study Council, the Principal’s Study Council and the Awards Banquet for the e Teacher, Principal, and Supervisor of the Year.

The restructuring was done in response to requests from school leaders to reduce the number of trips to Nashville and reduce the amount of time away from schools and central offices.

Cookeville High School teacher, Laura Carter, participated in the conference as a presenter. She presented a session titled, “Surviving and Thriving as a Social Studies Teacher”.

Other Putnam educators who participated in the conference and attended the awards banquet were District Director Dr. Michael Martin, Supervisor Barbara Greeson, Cane Creek Elementary principal Donna Shanks, and Upperman High School principal Jerry Boyd.

Dr. Martin summed up the evening by saying, “I think we have two winners.”

Each of the finalists received a crystal award and will receive $1000 from Mrs. Grissom’s Salads to be used in their schools.

When asked what she planned to do with the award, Ms. Anderson said, “ I plan to use it to purchase another eMac computer for The Charger lab.”

“That will help us move one step closer to meeting our goal of total digital production and help us keep improving the quality of the newspaper. It will indirectly benefit the entire student body.”

Article prepared for web by Eric Hannah.